The role of friendship: lessons from Jimmy Anderson and C. S. Lewis

I’ve been listening to Jimmy Anderson’s autobiography. Anyone familiar with England’s greatest fast bowler might question how engaging his story could be: he’s not known for being the cheeriest or most revealing in interviews.

This book, though, offers a surprising insight into Jimmy as a young boy, before he became the wicket-taking titan we know today. Early in the book he powerfully describes how lonely and isolated he felt as a bullied teenager. As someone who was bullied growing up I could relate to the pain and dissonance he felt, wondering where he belonged, struggling to fit in.

Friendship and finally fitting in

It was only at Burnley Cricket Club that he found friendship. 'Being in cricket transformed me, really. It was how I came to connect with people.' He goes on to describe how being part of a team, initially in the third eleven, helped him relate to those younger and older than him, how it gave him a sense of confidence he never had before. Ultimately, he describes how it was with that one thing in common, a love of cricket, that he first found real friendship.

C.S. Lewis once wrote that 'Friendship arises out of mere companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, ‘till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden).'

Loneliness: a pressing global threat

We’re wired for friendship. It’s what we need to survive, to thrive. However, our world faces a loneliness pandemic, so much so that the World Health Organisation declared it to be a pressing global threat.

Paul said of the church in Thessalonica that: 'Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.'

We need friends in our churches, people bound together not just by a shared interest or hobby, but by Christ.

However, I also need friends outside of church. To learn from, to share life with and to share Jesus with. One primary way Jesus made disciples was by forming friendships and sharing life. And as those in his image, and with His call, it’s the same for us.

Friendship, as Lewis observes, is often forged by a common love. When I was struggling to make friends growing up, it was through football and then cricket that I first made friends. Now, whereas I find chatting to my neighbours, or dads at the school gate difficult, in my sports club I have some of my closest friends. Long lasting mates who I’ve shared life with in all its ups and downs, initially bound by a common love for hockey and now by a love for each other.

Whatever your sporting level, maybe make it your New Year's resolution to try out a local club? We need friends, and joining a sports club is a great way to find them (and maybe, as Jimmy did, you’ll even discover a wonderful God-given talent!).